Thomas Sidney Sease was Solicitor of the Seventh Judicial Circuit from 1896 until 1909 and Resident Judge of the Seventh Judicial Circuit from 1909 until his retirement in 1949.
He practiced law at Spartanburg before his elevation to the Bench.
He received his college training at Newberry College and at the University of South Carolina and his legal education through the University of South Carolina School of Law.
His first wife was Miss Lula Caughman of Edgefield and his second wife was Miss Eunice P. Calhoun of Abbeville.
Judge Sease was a great judge and probably his chief characteristic was his sound judgment and his absolute independence, courage and firmness. He could quickly see behind the superficial aspect of a case, and strike at the heart of the controversy.
Judge Sease exemplified, at all times, the statement of Justice O.W. Holmes: “One can live as grandly in the law as elsewhere.”